


Alone Once More

by Lastsyns



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Character Death, Death from Old Age, M/M, Old Age
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-30
Updated: 2016-06-30
Packaged: 2018-07-19 07:06:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7350928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lastsyns/pseuds/Lastsyns
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack thinks back on his life with the Doctor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Alone Once More

Since he had first woken up aboard the game station, Jack had been destined to end up alone. It wasn't a fate that he wanted nor was it one that he liked to think about. How he had kept his sanity over the years as he said goodbye to everyone he knew was a mystery even to himself. Yet he had managed to hang on. He had walked away and even found a way to continue to live after his lover Ianto had died in his arms. He knew that one day he would find love again, but for years he had been afraid of it. Of course, he was still Captain Jack Harkness and he flirted with men and women alike but his heart was reserved for one man.

His dreams, of course, had been just that. He watched from afar as the Doctor continued to live his life, catching rumors of his adventures while he struggled to help him protect the earth. He could have asked the Doctor to return to help him but his own pride stopped him. Well that and the knowledge of no matter how hard he tried, the Doctor would never be his. That all changed though one winter night.

The Doctor returned to him, afraid of himself and what he had did. Jack never knew the exact details but the Doctor told him that he had changed time, causing a woman's legacy to be destroyed. He wanted someone with him, someone he trusted to stop him. Jack agreed and for a while, they traveled together as just friends. Jack later could never pinpoint the exact moment when that changed. When the brief hugs turned longer or the Doctor reached out to hold his hand, for more than just a way to stay together as they ran.

He stayed with the Doctor through his regenerations and loved the Time Lord no matter what he looked like. He took care of him as the Doctor explored the universe and though they took on other companions the Doctor never thought to kick Jack off. Jack allowed himself to have the childish hope that it never would end. That he would travel the universe for the rest of his long life with his lover and friend by his side. It was a just a dream though.

The Doctor had used all his regenerations and in his last body had grown weaker as the years went on. In the last years of his life he could barely walk, yet alone run as he once loved to do. He slept more and more, often waking confused with no idea who Jack was and calling out for one of his lost companions. This last week, he had barely woke at all. Jack sat diligently by his side, caring for the man who had given him more happiness and more years than anyone before him. The Doctor's breath was slow and labored and Jack knew it was just a matter of time before he drew his last.

It didn't matter that Jack knew the Doctor's time was close and that he would finally be at peace after his long difficult life. When the Doctor breathed out and then didn't breathe in again, Jack felt his world collapse around him. There was no one he could turn to, that would share in his grief. Alone, he burned the Doctor's body as the Doctor had requested, giving his body back to the earth and scattering his ashes into the stars he loved so much.

The Doctor had made him promise years before that after he passed, Jack would continue to travel in the TARDIS and continue to live. The TARDIS had a few good centuries in her yet, and the Doctor hated the thought of her rotting away somewhere. Jack had promised him, but he knew it was easier to make the promise than to keep it. Yet as he sat in the TARDIS, feet dangling out into the never ending night, he could almost hear the Doctor dancing around the TARDIS behind him. The Doctor excitedly babbling as he set the controls for a new planet, or to see a star they had never been to before. It didn't matter as long as they were together and here in the stars they always would be.


End file.
